It is safe to state that speed is one of the most common reasons for low performing websites. Slow-loading websites have a high bounce rate and provide a poor user experience. According to Kissmetrics, almost 40% of users abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. This figure alone explains everything regarding the importance of website speed.
When talking about ways to speed up a website, CDN (Content Delivery Network) comes at the forefront. It is an effective way to provide fast delivery of website content. The following lines explain CDN and the way it works in detail.
Since Magento is intrinsically slow, most Magento sites use CDN to compensate for the speed. We are also going to list down some of the best CDNs that can be used to significantly improve a Magento 2 website speed.
What is CDN?
A CDN refers to a geographically distributed group of servers to reduce the time between a user’s request for data and its delivery. The idea is to allow users to access the data from the server that is geographically closest to them.
How Does a CDN Work?
As stated above, a CDN is a group of servers placed at different locations also known as Points of Presence (PoPs). Each PoP contains a number of caching servers responsible for content delivery to visitors within its proximity. So instead of fetching data from a US-hosted website, a CDN will do it through a UK server or any server that is closest to a UK-based visitor. This greatly minimizes the distance the data has to travel hence reduces the delivery time.
The use of CDNs continues to grow as they make it possible for content to be delivered quickly and securely. This is the reason websites such as Facebook, Netflix, and Amazon are impressively fast despite storing thousands of terabytes of data on their servers.
The 8 Best CDN Providers For Magento 2
The availability of hundreds of CDN providers makes it difficult to pick the top few but we have done the research and chosen the ones that are the fastest, easy to configure, and most reliable. Here is the list.
1. StackPath
StackPath is the most popular CDN provider. It is user-friendly, secure, and reliable. StackPath acquired MaxCDN a few years ago.
StackPath mainly focuses on the West which is evident from its server’s distribution. It has more Points of Presence (PoPs) in America and Europe than Asia. Its features include real-time analytics, intelligent caching system, Gzip compression, 301 redirects, and security services.
Pros
- Easy to set up
- Free private SSL certificate
- Unlimited CDN requests
- Unlimited CDN rules
Cons
- No free plan. The basic CDN starts at $10/month
- Lacks locations outside US and Europe
2. Cloudflare
Cloudflare is widely popular among bloggers, small businesses, and professionals. It has the highest number of PoPs around the world ensuring fast content delivery in any part of the world. It comes with a free plan with no limitation on bandwidth.
Other features of Cloudflare include its easy integration with Magento 2, image optimization, mobile optimization, web filtering, clever page rules to manipulate traffic, etc.
Pros
- Easy to set up
- 200+ data centers around the world
- Capable free plan
- Full control for developers through REST API
Cons
- No phone or chat support in the free plan
- You will have to upgrade to premium plan starting from $20/month to get extra features
3. Fastly
Fastly is a CDN heavyweight that some of the internet giants such as Magento marketplace, Github, Vimeo, Pinterest, Reddit, and Spotify relies upon. Ideal for big organizations, Fastly delivers content in the shortest possible time. It is the second fastest CDN for the UK.
A predominant feature is high programmability. Fastly provides diverse support for different types of video caching. It also offers instant purging and real time logs.
Pros
- Highly configurable
- Extremely fast
- Monitor up to $50 of traffic for free
Cons
- Difficult to set up
- Costly (Minimum $50 per month)
4. KeyCDN
KeyCDN is another popular CDN provider ideal for first-time and low budget users. Its Magento integration is simple and you can start using it with free 25GB traffic.
Some of the important features of KeyCDN include Gzip compression, real-time reports, instant purge options, two-factor authentication, DDoS protection, and much more.
Pros
- Easy to integrate
- Pay as you go (a Pro for low traffic, a Con for high traffic sites)
- 24/7 support
Cons
- No free plan
- Limited security features
- Ordinary performance compared to others
5. Google Cloud CDN
Google Cloud CDN leverages Google’s global distribution of points of presence (PoPs). They have over 100 edge points around the globe covering every metropolitan area and hence a recommended cloud CDN for Magento stores.
Cloud CDN is fast, reliable and provides privacy and data security. Configuration is pretty simple, although technical know-how is required to set up HTTP(S) Load Balancing.
Pros
- Offers free trial
- $300 free trial credit
- Free SSL certificate
- Pay as you go
Cons
- Technical support will cost you extra
6. Amazon CloudFront
Amazon CloudFront is a popular CDN for websites offered by Amazon Web Services, especially because of its speed. It’s highly programmable and offers the most advanced security capabilities.
Amazon CloudFront is for advanced users and its integration with Magento 2 is not that easy. On the flip side, it’s unmatched when it comes to fast content delivery.
Pros
- Very fast
- 225+ Points of Presence
- Integrated with AWS
Cons
- Difficult to use
- Pricing vary by location
7. CDN77
CDN77 is another solid yet less preferred content delivery network because of its heavy price, although it does have some big clients. The network has data centers across 6 continents and is one of the best choice for Magento store owners having thousands of SKUs.
Pros
- Offers a 14 day free trial
- Free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate
- Easy to configure
Cons
- Does not offer advanced features
- Pricy (the basic plan starts at $199/month)
8. Akamai
Akamai is among the leading CDN providers. They are in the business for quite some time and hence provide the most extensive network of edge points. The company claims they have approximately 325,000 servers in more than 130 countries and nearly 1,500 networks around the world.
Akamai promises fast, intelligent and secure content delivery. Static content caching, dynamic content routing and cache purging are on par with other leading CDNs.
Pros
- Free trial
- Super coverage
- Great support
- Amazing performance
Cons
- Not for beginners
- Pricing is unknown
That’s all about CDN providers for Magento 2. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding this article.
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